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This thesis examines the development of Sweden’s economic defence in relation to two formative processes: the Cold War and the planning breakthrough (the introduction of rationalistic planning methods). The research question is: How did the economic defence develop between 1962–1986 in relation to the Cold War’s varying intensity and the planning breakthrough? The empirical material consists mainly of the National Swedish Board of Economic Defence’s archives. Firstly, using a theoretical approach derived from Guy Oakes The Imaginary War (1994), the study finds alternative explanations to the corporatist interpretation of the state-private relationship within the economic defence. Secondly, the findings suggest that in relation to the Cold War, the conceptualisations of future threats were more hypothetical in de-escalatory periods, and threat-specific during a worsened security situation. Thirdly, and most importantly, a significant finding is that historical experiences remained heavily influential in contingency planning despite the introduction of rational planning methods in the late 1960s. The results highlight an overlooked aspect of the economic defence and shed light on the friction between institutional development and cognitive adoption.